ER doctor's quick thinking likely saved numerous lives in Saskatoon apartment building, fire chief says

A Saskatoon emergency room physician's quick thinking may have saved lives last week after he alerted the fire department to a possible carbon monoxide leak at an east-side apartment.

On Monday, Saskatoon fire Chief Morgan Hackl honoured Dr. Mark Wahba with an "award of merit."

The carbon monoxide leak from a boiler in the apartment building at 12 Bateman Crescent on Jan. 14 sent 29 people to hospital Thursday.

The rescue began when Wahba became concerned while assessing a patient Thursday night at Royal University Hospital.

'It just didn't add up'

"The symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning are headache, nausea, dizziness, perhaps some vomiting. So kind of nonspecific symptoms," Wahba said during a Zoom call to accept his award.

"But the real hallmark [of carbon monoxide poisoning] is when you have two people in the household with those similar symptoms…. The patient and their young child both had a headache. And I thought, 'That's odd.' It just didn't add up."

He decided to call the fire department to check on the carbon monoxide levels where the patient lived.

"And they called me 10 minutes later and said, 'The level's high,' and I said, 'Oh, wow.' And she said: 'No, you don't understand. The level's really high. This is a real emergency.' And that's when I realized how serious the situation was." 

Hackl said Wahba's decision likely saved numerous lives.

"The decision of Dr. Wahba to call directly to our dispatch was crucial in saving lives in this instance," Hackl said.

He said they ask people to evacuate buildings if there are levels of carbon monoxide at 50 parts per million.

"When we see 200 parts per million and more, we do not send our firefighters in without self-contained breathing apparatus and we evacuate a facility. In this case, when it was over 400 parts per million in parts of the building, people can die within two to three hours."

Wahba choked up while talking about the incident, saying he lives only a couple of blocks away from the apartment.

"My son's in class with one of the kids in that building," he said. 

"I had a friend, close friend of mine. She lost her brother and sister 27 years ago to carbon monoxide poisoning.

"It's a silent killer, it's not exciting, it doesn't get any attention. It's tasteless, odourless, so I'm thankful for the quick actions of the fire department and EMS to evacuate that building."

Wahba hopes the scare highlights the need for carbon monoxide detectors in all buildings.